A Visit to James M Brown's Preschool Intervention Class

I recently visited the PIP class at James M Brown Elementary and couldn't help but smile as I watched several preschoolers participate in an exciting "hands-on" activity using a Smart Board. Before the lesson began, the teacher led the class in movement as they watched a video and sang a "prep" song reminding them of good listening and learning behaviors. Afterwards, every student was provided an opportunity to individually interact with the Smart Board while answering a question of the day. The teacher built on prior knowledge and experiences by having each boy (yes...all boys in this class) remember a recent field trip to a farm. The students were actively involved in the instruction as they voted "Yes" or "No" in response to "Did you eat the strawberries you picked at the farm?" The teacher was enthusiastic and energetic as she provided continuous positive feedback and praise. These preschoolers were having so much fun they likely didn't even realize they were learning very important skills: turn-taking, attending to the teacher, staying in your seat, the concepts of "Yes" and "No", social skills (acknowledging peers), and organizing information (they had to drag symbols to the correct place on the Smart Board screen). I bet coming to school is the best part of the day for many of these little ones.